Back in the late 1980's I was assigned to a staff section of the US Army Chemical School, at that time located at Fort McClellan, Alabama.

A young captain fresh out of the USMAG in Turkey was also assigned to my staff section.

One of his favorite stories of his previous assignment concerned a checkpoint on the Turkish-Iraninan border. When a busload of Iranian people came to the checkpoint, they would dismount the bus, walk through to the Turkish side. The women would be dressed in berkas--head-to-toe clothing which hid their faces.

On the Turkish side they would enter a building later to emerge wearing western-style clothes--blue jeans and tight-fitting shirts.

Later, going back into Iran, the process would be reversed-- from western-style clothing back into the berkas.

I remember thinking at the time that the theocratic regime of Iran would one day implode. Maybe that day is coming soon.